A Stroudsburg man and Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Arts graduate made it through the first round on the premiere of Season 4 of the hit NBC-TV singing competition “The Voice” Monday, but after just one episode of auditions, he already faces stiff competition.

Here's a video of Christian Porter explaining his choice of Blake Shelton as his mentor.

Christian Porter, a singer-songwriter, got bids from three of the show’s four judges to be on their team after performing LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” entirely rearranged from an electronic send-up to a slow-burning Dave Matthews-sound-alike.

He chose as his mentor country star Blake Shelton, who has coached the winning contestant on the last two seasons of the show.

Porter, 21, is a 2009 Vocal Music alumnus of the Bethlehem-based charter school. He performs in Poconos-area venues such as Sarah Street Grill in Stroudsburg and has opened for performers such as “American Idol” alum Bo Bice at Stroudsburg’s Sherman Theater.

His feature-length segment on the two-hour show also featured his mother, father and sister, and revealed that he was so silent as a toddler that his mother thought he was deaf. Music, he said, opened his world.

Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar while the band plays in the background, he was emphatic and demonstrative. Shelton said he was “pretty cool,” new judge Shakira, who was the first to make a bid for him by turning around her chair in the “blind” auditions, said, “You know what that is? That is sexy.”

And new judge Usher said he responded because “The women were going so crazy … I really felt like I was going to turn to a strip show or a male review, ‘cause it was like ‘Magic Mike’ up there,” referring to the recent smash movie.

Only veteran judge Adam Levine didn’t make a bid for Porter, saying he was “perplexed because it was so unique and different, maybe I’m just not ready for it,” Levine says.

Porter said he had to “go with my gut” and chose Shelton. “It feels amazing now,” Porter said at the end of is segment. I’m shaking. This is awesome.”

Blind auditions will continue for several weeks, meaning Porter likely won’t be seen again until live competition begins later this spring, when contestants begin competing against each other. But he already faces stiff competition.

One of the other seven contestants that made it though Monday – and who was so impressive the show saved her as the episode’s last segment -- was 28-year-old Judith Hill, who was to be Michael Jackson's background singer and duet partner on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" for his 2009 finale This Is It tour.

When Jackson died before the tour, she sang "Heal The World" at his memorial, shown on television to a billion people. All four judges gave her a standing ovation for singing Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants,” and make strenuous pleas to have her their teams before she chose Levine. He had told her, “I will claw people's faces off to get you on my team...I'm gonna have a panic attack if you don't pick me, because I know you're going to win!"

Porter already even has stiff competition on his own team. Identical blond twins Cara and Rhian Morgan, who sang an impressive harmonized version of Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’,” got enthusiastic bids from all four judges before choosing Shelton.

Also choosing Shelton from among three judges vying for her was 16-year-old Danielle Bradbery, who sang a version of Berks County native Taylor Swift’s “Mean” that was strong and on key, meaning it was at least better than Taylor Swift’s. Usher even tried to lure her with his managerial ties to Justin Bieber.

Of the other contestants, Kris Thomas surprised the judges by belting out Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You” in a distinctive high voice, but only got Shakira to turn around, automatically putting him on her team. The judges said they thought they were hearing a woman.

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.